book reviews

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Life, In Spite of Me by Kristen Jane Anderson with Tricia Goyer was a great read. I picked it up in the afternoon and finished the entire book in one sitting.
Kristen was your average teenager. Grew up in a normal family with normal teenage problems. But in her high school years she was faced with the death of her grandmother, her good friend to suicide, and a rape. It spent her into a downward spiral of depression. She saw no hope, no point in going on. After drinking and smoking to try to drown out her sorrows she becomes grounded. During her grounding she leaves the house for a "walk" and ends up at dark in the park, by the train tracks. She sees no end in sight to her pain but through death, as she hears the train approach, she lays on the track....and as the train stops, she is still alive, in immense pain, and her legs are gone. She lived...but the journey was only beginning.
Through rehab, through depression, through pain she comes to know a relationship with Christ- her ALL, her everything. She grows more and more in her walk with Him and hope is born at last. She struggles, gets knocked down, but gets back up and keeps going.
She has started traveling and speaking to youth, to adults of the hope she has found. Lasting hope, fulfilling hope- He is enough.
Kristen is a survivor and she's now showing others there is SO much to live for. I would suggest anyone and everyone read this book. No matter where you are in your life- it will inspire you and remind you of our ONLY hope- In Christ alone.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Hope, Help, and Healing for Eating Disorders by Greogory Jantz has been an eye opening, life changing book.
I have suffered from anorexia/bulimia for over 15 years. This book takes a "whole person" approach to treating eating disorders and disordered eating. The whole person approach includes your emotional self, intellectual self, physical self, relational self, and spiritual self.
This book is written in a very readable form, each chapter is followed by a self answer section called "food for thought." Personally I find this part of the book to be the most helpful in a breakthrough with my eating. It is self evaluation. It's the hard questions you don't want to answer, but know you have to to move forward in healing.
I have read the book, I am still working through the questions and re-reading parts I need to focus on. Of all the books on eating disorders that I've read this has been the most helpful.
I'd recommend this over any other eating disorder book or even if you know someone suffering and would like to understand them more. Read this now- it'll be lifesaving.

This book was provided for free by Walter Multnomah publishers as part of the blogging for books program.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

I read this precious book with my 5 year old before bed last night. It is a great book and lead to great discussion about who God is and what He's done in our world and in our lives.
God gave us the world is a book about a little polar bear who asks his momma lots of questions. He asks her if there are any other bears out there in the world.
The mom goes on to explain that God created this whole big world for us to enjoy. He created each aspect of it diffrently including the people (or in the story-bears) different to show off His work, the beauty of His creation.
I was able to talk to my daughter about God;s creation, His goodness, His love to let us enjoy His beauty and how we are stewards of what He has given us.
A super sweet book with great teaching interwoven throughout.

This book was provided for free by Walter Multnomah publishers as part of the blogging for books program.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

She asks the question, Do I have a child? Her heart torn by the email from her son’s father, Julia prepares to deal with Parker and his effect on their lives. Regardless of the outcome Daniel is the spitting image of his father, making Parker undeniably part of their story for better or worse. Julia’s story is truly poignant, bringing about a novel that is sincere of live, love and personal transformation. Julia, who has had a truly unorthodox life by many standards, is not all that different from many people in our world today. As she battles her insecurities and fears, Julia turns to those whom she loves and respects, letting them enable her to discover what is right for her. It had me captivated from beginning to end; leaving me with mixed yet satisfied emotions.

Nicole is an amazing writer. Her style is flawless, proven by the way she captivates her reader. Beneath the night tree felt so real, I often forgot I was reading a book. The author does a wonderful job of captivating the emotions and thoughts of each character, especially Julia as she deals with life-changing decisions and events. The novel is categorized as Christian fiction but felt authentically human in nature. It mentions prayer as Julia questions and pleas with God for guidance and understanding, however, it is done in a manner that makes the reader feel even a non-believer might do the same thing in the same situation. I highly recommend “Beneath the Night Tree” to readers of all genres. It is moving and unexpected.

Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book to review.

I recieved the book "The Shelter of God's Promises" by Sheila Walsh and started reading it the same day. I love Walsh's books-every single one of them, and this book did not disappoint. Walsh is so honest, so to the point, and so encouraging at the same time.
She begins the book by reminding us that God's promises are just that- promises. He can not break them- as she says, "promise" is a word we have created in our culture- God speaks- and He acts- all He says WILL come true because that is His nature-truth. She goes on to talk of the many attributes of God. She just continues to pour over the truth and remind us of the amazing God we serve.
Throughout the book she covers so many aspects of promises that God has given to us.
Promises of:
-provision
-peace
-confidence
-love
-grace
-hope
-strength
-more
-a future home

This book is encouraging to everyone out there because it is all about who God is and how He will come through for us, because that is His character.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

In the book, "Seeds of Turmoil", Bryant Wright's gives a Biblical explanation of the origin, history, and future significance of the Middle East conflict and the current unending clash in the Middle East.
How it began long before the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, originating when Abraham and his wife, Sarah, doubted God's promise and sinned. In "Seeds of Turmoil" a historical and political account plainly explains the biblical story of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar and the ensuing sibling rivalry between Jacob and Esau. Wright reveals the roots of the conflict and presents the opposing perspectives of the world's three most influential faiths, all of which claim Abraham as their father: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

This book shows us the significance of the Biblical roots and todays issues. This area is huge in Biblical history and will always be until the return of Christ. I highly enjoyed seeing the roots of where it all began through Wright's eyes.

For those that have a love of Biblical History and their Christian roots, this book is highly recommended. God continues to pursue His chosen nation.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

As the New Year approaches one of my many resolutions for myself is to better myself spiritually. One way I know how to do this is with God's word.

Christians and Non-Christians have long asked the question of why people must endure suffering if God is such a wonderful and loving God. Many people throughout history have attempted to answer this hard question. In this book the author, Randy Alcorn, gives it his best attempt.
Throughout the book Alcorn depicts stories from people who have endured horrible suffering and the grace that they have found because of it. Some of the stories are from the author's own life while others come from family or friends or strangers. But each story resonates with grace!
This book shows God’s goodness all through the pages. The grace that He allows us because of the suffering is the small prize we get here on this earth. Really all we do here is storing up for us the treasures in Heaven that we won’t know till we are one day standing with Christ and rejoicing that all our suffering would be worth it.

I chose this book not because I myself have experienced extreme suffering recently, but because as the author warns, "We shouldn't wait until suffering comes to start learning about how to face it any more than we should wait to fall into the water to start learning how to scuba dive."

I received a copy of this book from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review; the opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."